Etymology — The Origins of English Words

First attested 1548, from Late Latin perspicācitās (“discernment”), from Latin perspicax (“sharp-sighted”), from perspiciō (“look through”), from per- (“through”) + speciō (“look at”). See also perspective.

Borrowed from Middle French opiner, from Latin opīnor (“to hold as an opinion”), from *opīnus (“thinking, expecting”), only in negative nec-opīnus (“not expecting”) and in-opīnus (“not expected”); akin to optō (“to choose, desire”), and to apīscor (“to obtain”); see optate and opt.

Learned borrowing from Latin mussitātiō (“soft noise made by dogs, or (Late Latin) people”) + English -ion (suffix denoting a condition or state). Mussitātiō is derived from mussitātus (“kept quiet; having been kept quiet; murmured, muttered; having been muttered”) (see further at mussitate) + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs).

From Middle English oyler, equivalent to oil + -er.

From Middle English philosophik, phylosophyk, from Old French filosofique and Latin philosophicus; equivalent to philosophy + -ic.

From English in- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + Latin ēnūbilāre (“to clear of clouds or mist; (figurative) to clear of obscurity”) + English -able (suffix meaning ‘able to be done’ forming adjectives), possibly coined by the English critic and essayist Max Beerbohm (1872–1956): see the 1903 and 1911 quotations below. By surface analysis, in- + e- + Latin nubil- + -able. Ēnūbilāre is derived from ē- (a variant of ex- (prefix denoting privation)) + nūbilus (“cloudy, overcast; (figurative) beclouded, confused, troubled”) (from nūbēs (“cloud; (figurative) concealment, obscurity”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)newdʰ- (“to cover”)) + -āre.

Coined by Scottish philosopher Sir William Hamilton: "quantification of the predicate".

Apparently from im- + permeable. Compare French imperméable, from Latin impermeābilis, from im- + permeābilis (“permeable”).

From Latin Cyprianus.

Learned borrowing from Latin ēmancipātus (“liberated, emancipated”) + English -ate (suffix forming verbs, and adjectives with the sense ‘characterized by the specified thing’). Ēmancipātus is the perfect passive participle of ēmancipō (“to declare (someone) free and independent of another’s power, emancipate; to give (something) from one’s authority or power into that of another, to alienate, transfer; to cause (oneself or someone) to become another’s slave; to make (someone) subservient”), from ē- (a variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’)) + mancipō (“to sell; to transfer”) (from manceps (“owner, possessor; purchaser; etc.”) + -ō (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs)). The verb emancipate has verb sense 1.1 (“to set free”) and verb sense 1.3 (“(obsolete) to place under one’s control”) which are contradictory. The Latin word ēmancipō had the same senses, and the Oxford English Dictionary notes that according to the Latin grammarian Paulus Festus (fl. 8th century) this is because both actions were effected by the legal process of mancipation.

From drag + -er.

From bone + headed.

1809, from gallant (“wooing women”), originally in sense “to flirt”, broadened to mean “roaming without plan”.

From Middle English biwedden, from Old English beweddian (“to betroth, marry, give security”), from Proto-West Germanic *biwaddjōn, equivalent to be- + wed. Cognate with Old Frisian biweddia.

From Middle English consecucioun (“attainment”), from Latin cōnsecūtiō (“effect, proper sequence, attainment”), from past participle of cōnsequor (“to follow, result, reach”).

From debauch + -er.

From Latin ego (“I”) + -t- (perhaps modelled on dogmatism, despotism, idiotism) + -ism.

Variant of Finlay.

From foot (“part of the human leg below the ankle”) + fall (“act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity”, noun).

From grapple + -er.

From Middle French diffamatoire (altered after the prefix de-), from Medieval Latin diffāmātōrius.

From Middle English drenchyng, drenchynge, drenchende, from Old English drenċende, from Proto-Germanic *drankijandz, present participle of *drankijaną (“to drench”), equivalent to drench + -ing.

From cloud + burst.

Variant of Gillett.